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Children's and adolescents' understanding of their small ventricular septal defects
Author(s) -
Lok Sheau Wen,
Menahem Samuel
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-200x.2012.03736.x
Subject(s) - medicine , abnormality , heart disease , pediatrics , affect (linguistics) , cohort , disease , psychiatry , cardiology , linguistics , philosophy
Background Congenital heart disease is common yet poorly understood in childhood. We reviewed the understanding of older children and adolescents with the commonest congenital heart defect, namely, a small ventricular septal defect ( VSD ), through a questionnaire and/or their drawings of their abnormality. Methods As part of a wider study, older children and adolescents with a small VSD were asked to draw a picture of their cardiac defect in addition to completing a questionnaire. Results Twelve of an initial cohort of 20 participants, who were between the ages of 8 and 20 years, completed a drawing of their malformation. Further drawings were obtained from five additional participants recruited from a private practice over the next few years. There were almost equal number of male and female participants overall. Nearly all participants had a limited understanding of their cardiac abnormality as reflected by their drawings. Nevertheless none reported restricting their physical activity. Conclusion While most older children and adolescents did not seem to have a clear understanding of their small VSD , it did not appear to affect their daily activity. The participants placed a greater reliance on the information provided by their parents rather than their doctor, emphasizing the importance of informing both the parents and the patient.